


Wide Angle

by bombyx (starcrusher)



Category: OFF (Game)
Genre: Fluff, Other, POV Second Person, silly ass fan theories
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-05-28
Updated: 2013-05-28
Packaged: 2017-12-13 05:35:28
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,236
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/820592
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/starcrusher/pseuds/bombyx
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The Player begins to doubt the Batter's mission, with some very bizarre consequences.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Wide Angle

**Author's Note:**

> Done for the kink meme on Dreamwidth. again. even though this isn't really a kink. can you tell i'm really struggling with how to write the Player and keeping hir gender neutral but also not awkward? goddamn.

You’d heard weird things about this game, but the weirdness only made you more eager to give it a try. 

You power it up and install the necessary text files, and so it begins.

_Welcome, Player. You have been assigned to a being called “The Batter.”_

_The Batter has an important mission. Be sure that it’s accomplished._

This seems simple enough, but of course, you know things will complicate with time. Nonetheless, when you enter (into Zone 0, you suppose), you find your new ally waiting for you. You introduce yourself, but he already knows who you are. You are his Player, and as you continue forward, it is clear that he trusts you with something he’d trust no one else. 

The Judge teaches you to monitor his health, his status, his competences, how to use the Wide Angle to learn about your foes.

You wish you could use it on the Batter himself, but you’re also sure that once you spend enough time with him, you’ll learn on your own.

You’re always surprised at his skill – the obedience with which he follows your lead and the eagerness he displays in obeying your commands, as well as his ferocity in battle. No matter how his competence and health drain, he continues to give each fight his all as long as you allow him to, and he tears through the tickets and meat that you find or buy for him with abandon.

He trusts you completely; he knows that you’ll take care of him, and you have every intention to do so.

When he fights, you watch him fondly. You’re sure he’ll be able to complete his mission at this rate. He’s so strong and so tireless, and you’re proud to be his companion. It’s wonderful to be the one to pat his back after a job well done. Each time you praise him, you watch his face, and the tiniest of smiles always flickers across his lips.

And really, you could play the game just for those smiles.

It isn’t long, however, before you begin to wonder about his motives… and yours. You’re only in the first Zone, but one of the battles today has shaken you up a little. You’re used to the Elsen by now, and you know they’re often frightened, but also that they don’t mean any harm. You’d never seen one get so… anxious. And you really didn’t know they could do _that_.  
You sit near your Batter’s side, using an old tunic of his that you’ve saved to wipe the tarlike black goo from him while he toys with a Luck Ticket. 

“Batter.”

He doesn’t reply, but he looks at you, which is all you really need to assure his attention.

“You remember that Elsen today…?” Of course he does, you think, he’s still covered in its filth. You grimace at yourself, and continue. “Elsen aren’t ghosts. They’re just people. Even… even if they do that, I don’t know if it’s wise to attack them.”

He looks away from you. “They must be purified.”

You swallow, and reach up to clean around the nape of his neck. “There’s nothing else we can do? I don’t like hurting them. They’re friendly.”

“No. They can only be purified.”

\--

Considering the way he’d always obeyed your commands, you’re surprised to find him so uncompromising about that particular issue. He _does_ know more about this world than you do, but even so, you don’t continue without your reservations.

Something always lingers in your mind that wonders whether there might be another way to help the Elsen. You don’t enjoy giving them the same treatment as the specters, especially after all they’ve done, providing the history and purpose of things in the world for both of you and revealing important hints that allow you to continue. You’re certain they don’t intend to hurt you.

Perhaps something more evil is at play? Surely Elsen wouldn’t attack anyone of their own volition.

These thoughts distract you while you work through puzzles, and while you help the Batter fight. While pondering over the Battle menu, something flashes in the corner of your vision, and you look, but as soon as you do, it’s gone, whatever it was. Only your Batter stands in your gaze, ready and waiting for your command.

You shove it out of your mind for now.

Odd visions return unbidden during your next encounter with a burnt Elsen. You’re busy looking over the attacks, and finally you select one for the Batter to use. When you go to watch him, you see something entirely different: the sides of the field are flipped, and the monster is on the wrong side. A gigantic beast towers over a helpless Elsen, who just a moment ago was spewing black, and now trembles before the creature gnashing its many dagger-like teeth, preparing for attack.

You try to cry out, but the sound is cut short when the beast lunges forward, goring the Elsen with its claws. Now you’re able to scream, and you hide your eyes and sob, unable to bear the sight of it. You don’t quite manage to escape before the words flicker in and out of appearance: _Adversaries purified._

You’re left on your knees, sniffling into your hands, eyes squeezed shut. A hand touches your shoulder and you glance upward, to find the Batter staring down at you. His normally blank face is marred with confusion, and maybe just the tiniest bit of concern, but you can’t really tell through the tears. 

The two of you don’t speak until you stop for the night. Camped out and watching the Batter while he chews on his Silver Flesh, you wonder how even to bring it up. He doesn’t make a habit of speaking unless spoken to first, or unless he has something he knows is useful to say. Apparently, now is not one of those times.

So you clear your throat, and he looks at you, licking metallic blood from his lips. “Batter, did you notice anything odd when you were fighting that Elsen today?”

He hesitates.

“Besides, my… um. After the fight, I mean.”

Resolved, he shakes his head. 

“I see.” You dip your head, then move closer to him, smiling just a little as you dab blood off of his face and shirt. He always eats so messily. He does everything messily, if efficiently. “Do you think we’re on the right path? Sometimes I worry about that. I wonder if we’re doing more harm than good.”

“This world needs to be purified.”

For the first time, you really wonder why he’s so sure of that. How does he know? What told him? What about the world needs purified, exactly? You know there are ghosts, of course. But the talk you’ve heard of the Elements, the Queen, the Guardians… and those burnt Elsen. You’re not so sure you’re getting the full story. Aside from a bit of torment by ghosts, the world seems to run relatively smoothly. You can’t shake the thought that there’s something greater at play, more than just the simple quest you were assigned to. 

It’s a difficult thing to think about, especially since you’ve already become so accustomed to seeing the Batter as someone safe. You’ve grown to trust him the way he trusts you, and his determination has influenced you. You couldn’t have helped but to get caught up in his plans, whatever those plans are. Not knowing is the worst part of it. 

“What happens afterward?” you ask, a little absently, setting the fabric soiled with silver blood aside. “What will you do once the world is pure?” You take his hand, and naturally, he lets you without an ounce of resistance, allowing you to hold it and examine his wide palm, black nails, and calloused fingers. 

“It will be over,” the Batter responds cryptically. “And there will be no more fear and no more darkness.”

That doesn’t seem so bad. And you feel a little silly for wondering what told him to do this. He’s a character in a game; he doesn’t really need a reason to want to complete his quest, does he? You’re relieved that his intentions don’t appear to be so ironically impure, and you relax against him, setting your head on his shoulder with a yawn, preparing for bed. 

You’re still just conscious enough to notice, barely, when he moves his arm to wrap it around you. But when he sets his hand on you, it feels oddly large. To your hazed mind, already preparing to dream, this makes perfect sense, so you only cuddle up against him, secure and warm. 

\--

The Batter doesn’t ever wake you up, even if he wakes long before you do. You rub the sleep from your eyes and look around for your companion, but the only thing you find is _it_. The monster. Your voice is strangled in your throat and as soon as you scurry backward, falling over and continuing back, it _looks_ at you. It looks at you like you’ve intruded upon it, somehow, and really you want absolutely nothing to do with it, _ever ever ever_. Where’s the Batter? He’s never left you in a situation like this before, especially not _waking up_ next to a specter…!

Your breath is rough, but the beast makes no move, looking at you with bright, white, empty eyes. You may not have the Batter here, but you open the battle menu nonetheless, hoping to summon him, or Alpha.

Nothing.

Wide Angle is the only attack available, and it uses competence points from a source you’ve never seen before. You cast it on the monster, hoping you’ll at least get some useful information. What, then? You suppose you’ll have to start flinging meat at it or something.

The information flickers into existence: _The Batter. Demented Purificatory Incarnation. HP: ? CP: ?_

You just sit there, mouth open. This is the Batter? This… thing? There has to be something wrong with the game. The file must be corrupted. Or the controls must not be functioning right. You’re thinking through all this, but you also can’t help but notice the creature isn’t attacking you. It isn’t even moving, as if it’s confused. As if _he’s_ confused. “…Batter?” you ask, carefully, and wince back when the monster lopes toward you, but still he makes no effort to harm you.

He seems to snuffle you carefully, his snout in your face, and all those razor teeth just inches from you. “You… you look different,” you manage, shakily, and reach up to touch his arm. You realize he’s still wearing his dorky baseball uniform. …And the cap.

He doesn’t speak to you. Maybe he can’t. 

He doesn’t even seem to notice anything out of the ordinary. He doesn’t notice he’s changed.

You want to escape, to be somewhere by yourself to think this over, but you can’t leave him, and besides, if you run and he decides to chase you down and attack, there’ll be no one to help you. No one can save you from this monster, because you’d been cavorting with the monster the entire time.

Everything makes sense, and you realize the game is a whole lot more complicated than you’d expected.

You still can’t shake the thought that the Elsen are innocent, and that attacking them is cruel. You still doubt the Batter’s mission, and his very purity itself, and… that doubt turned him into a monster?

Yes.

Doubting the Elsen turned _them_ into monsters, didn’t it? It was all a grand illusion. Demons where there were none, and monsters everywhere. Hiding in the shadows, hiding in the innocents, hiding in the one person you thought you’d be able to trust.

You still do trust him.

You pet his long snout, up toward his eyes and down between his nostrils. His eyelids lower a little, and he breathes hot air against you. He is as gentle to you as he always was. He trusts you, as he always did. You’re his Player, after all. You know this isn’t his true nature, just as Elsen aren’t really burnt.

“You aren’t a monster,” you tell him, softly, meeting his white eyes. You see your reflection in them, and wonder how he sees out. “Or if you are, so am I. So is everyone. But when everyone is a monster… no one is.”

You close your eyes, leaning your head against him, and when you open them again, he’s back to normal. …No. Not normal. Just back to how he was before. “There aren’t any ghosts,” you say, and the Batter looks taken aback. “And no monsters, no more than you’re a monster yourself. I’m sorry, but I can’t help you with your mission anymore.”

He’s silent for a time, then, very softly, he asks, “Pardon?”

You only nod at him. You know he’s heard what you said. You don’t know what will happen next, but you do know that _you_ , at least, won’t be seeing anymore Burnts. Or likely specters. You can’t speak for the Batter. If everyone has their own views and that changes what they see so drastically, you don’t know that he’ll be able to look at the Elsen or the ghosts any differently. 

But you do know you believe in him. 

And it was your belief that changed him, and the same belief that brought him back, so you have to hope.


End file.
